AFP had previously reported that, following the rejection of the US proposal on Friday, an alternative text presented by seven non-permanent members of the Council (Algeria, Slovenia, Guyana, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Switzerland) would be submitted the vote today.
The postponement was decided to allow discussions on the draft resolution to continue. The latest version, the same sources told AFP, “calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
The vote comes after Russia, China and Algeria vetoed a proposed resolution presented to the UN Security Council by the United States for an immediate ceasefire.
The Council, which has been largely divided over the Israeli-Palestinian issue for years, has only managed to approve two resolutions on the subject since October 7, which are essentially humanitarian. The results are meager: aid to Gaza remains largely insufficient and famine is imminent.
Several other political resolutions were rejected by US vetoes on the one hand and Russian and Chinese vetoes on the other, or by an insufficient number of votes.
Also on Friday, France defended an agreement at the UN Security Council based on a French text.
According to a diplomatic source, the broader and longer-term text would include the consolidation of a possible ceasefire, the release of hostages, the role of the Palestinian Authority and the UN in Gaza after the war and the relaunch of a political process.
Russia and China vetoed the draft resolution proposed by the United States, a text that received 11 votes in favor, one abstention – from Guyana – and three votes against, including Russia and China, two permanent members of the Security Council with veto power, in addition to Algeria.
The resolution, proposed after more than five months of war, marked the first time that the United States called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza at the Security Council, after having vetoed several projects presented by other countries.
